A German study suggests that people who were too optimistic about their future a

题文

A German study suggests that people who were too optimistic about their future actually faced greater risk of disability or death within 10 years than those pessimists who expected their future to be worse.
The paper, published this March in Psychology and Aging, examined health and welfare surveys from roughly 40,000 Germans between ages 18 and 96. The surveys were conducted every year from 1993 to 2003.
Survey respondents (受访者) were asked to estimate their present and future life satisfaction on a scale of 0 to 10, among other questions.
The researchers found that young adults (age 18 to 39) routinely overestimated their future life satisfaction, while middle-aged adults (age 40 to 64) more accurately predicted how they would feel in the future. Adults of 65 and older, however, were far more likely to underestimate their future life satisfaction. Not only did they feel more satisfied than they thought they would, the older pessimists seemed to suffer a lower ratio (比率) of disability and death for the study period.
“We observed that being too optimistic in predicting a better future than actually observed was associated with a greater risk of disability and a greater risk of death within the following decade,” wrote Frieder R. Lang, a professor at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg.
Lang and his colleagues believed that people who were pessimistic about their future may be more careful about their actions than people who expected a rosy future.
“Seeing a dark future may encourage positive evaluations of the actual self and may contribute to taking improved precautions (预防措施),” the authors wrote.
Surprisingly, compared with those in poor health or who had low incomes, respondents who enjoyed good health or income were associated with expecting a greater decline. Also, the researchers said that higher income was related to a greater risk of disability.
The authors of the study noted that there were limitations to their conclusions. Illness, medical treatment and personal loss could also have driven health outcomes.
However, the researchers said a pattern was clear. “We found that from early to late adulthood, individuals adapt their expectations of future life satisfaction from optimistic, to accurate, to pessimistic,” the authors concluded.
小题1:According to the study, who made the most accurate prediction of their future life satisfaction?A．Optimistic adults.B．Middle-aged adults.C．Adults in poor health.D．Adults of lower income.小题2:Pessimism may be positive in some way because it causes people ______.A．to fully enjoy their present lifeB．to estimate their contribution accuratelyC．to take measures against potential risksD．to value health more highly than wealth小题3:How do people of higher income see their future?A．They will earn less money.B．They will become pessimistic.C．They will suffer mental illness.D．They will have less time to enjoy life.小题4: What is the clear conclusion of the study?A．Pessimism guarantees chances of survival.B．Good financial condition leads to good health.C．Medical treatment determines health outcomes.D．Expectations of future life satisfaction decline with age. 题型：未知 难度：其他题型

答案

小题1:B
小题2:D
小题3:A
小题4:C

解析

文章大意：议论文。通过调查发现：随着年龄的增长，对生活的期望也就下降。
小题1:根据文章中第二段第一句后半部分：while middle-aged adults (age 40 to 64) more accurately predicted how they would feel in the future. 可知。
小题2:根据文章第七段：Seeing a dark future may encourage positive evaluations of the actual self and may contribute to taking improved precautions。可直接得出。关键词：taking improved precautions。
小题3:根据文章第八段：respondents who enjoyed good health or income were associated with expecting a greater decline. Also, the researchers said that higher income was related to a greater risk of disability.享有良好的健康和收入的人对他们的生活的预期大大的下降。
小题4:根据文章的意思。特别是文章最后一段：We found that from early to late adulthood, individuals adapt their expectations of future life satisfaction from optimistic, to accurate, to pessimistic,我们发现，从早期到成年后期，个人适应其预期的未来生活满意度从乐观，准确的说，到悲观。可知，随着年龄的增长，对生活的期望也就下降。

考点

据考高分专家说，试题“A German study sugge.....”主要考查你对 [社会现象类阅读 ]考点的理解。

社会现象类阅读

社会现象类阅读概念：

这类文章通过写人记事来揭示文章的主题，显示其社会意义，一般采用顺序或倒叙来叙述。题目经常是一些细节问题。考查的方面可以是原因和其中引发的思考。

社会现象类阅读解题技巧：

这类文章通过写人记事来揭示文章的主题，显示其社会意义，一般采用顺序或倒叙来叙述。题目经常是一些细节问题。考查的方面可以是原因和其中引发的思考。阅读这类文章要理清思路。
1、浏览试题，明确要求。
      在阅读文章前，最好先浏览一下文章后面的题干和选项。知道了问题后再去看文章，可使思路更敏捷，而且也便于阅读时留意文中出现的与选项有关的信息。
2、通读全文，抓住主要内容。
      在不影响理解的前提下，尽可能地阅读以便在尽可能短的时间内理解文章或段落的内容。阅读时，如遇到不熟悉的单词、词组或一时看不懂的句子，不要停下来苦思冥想，继续读下去，通过上下文的词语和句子可能就理解了。
3、抓住中心思想和段落大意。
      通读全文时，要特别注意主题句。每篇文章或每个段落都有与文章有关的句子，尤其是科技、政论性文章的主题句一般都在文章的开头或结尾，插在中间的很少。所以，文章的第一段或开头的第一、二个句子往往包含着文章的中心思想、作者的意图或全文的概述，因此要特别注意，彻底理解。
4、有针对性地仔细阅读，找寻所需信息。
      在前面的基础上，可进行有针对性地阅读了。把与问题无关的内容一扫而过，而对于和问题有关的内容认真阅读，还可以用笔在下面做出记号。再把这些信息与问题的要求结合起来，逐条分析，综合判断，找出正确答案。
5、进行合理的推理判断。
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6、认真复读，验证答案。
      要用全文的中心思想统帅各个题目，研究其内在联系和逻辑关系，并依次审核那些还未打上的题目，确保理解无误。